How to be happy at work
I recently wrote about New York based company Next Jump and the world-leading things they’ve done to create a very happy workplace.
Here’s a fantastic speech from their founder and CEO Charlie Kim where he talks about the principles behind Next Jump:
It’s an hour long and I highly recommend watching the whole thing.
I recently spoke about happiness at work in New York and after the event, one attendee sent me this email:
Thanks for coming to speak to the group in New York last month. Glad I got the chance to finally meet you after reading your blog for so many years.
When I got back to work the next day, I told my department about your talk and showed them some of the videos on your site. My boss, inspired by the overall message of Arbejdsglaede and amused by the hand-drawn video, bought a copy of your book for everyone in our group. Here is a photo of us with our crisp new copies!
Most of us are quite new, as our company is growing fast. We’re hoping to build a happy, productive workplace and will be using your book as one of the prime resources. Hopefully, we’ll soon develop a reputation as a great place to work, in addition to being known for the word we do [matching bone marrow donors to Leukemia patients in need].
Thanks for all you do, keep up the good work.
And right back at ya, Prescott!
I recently did an interview about happiness at work in non-profits. Sadly I’ve found that while the work people do there is often very rewarding and meaningful, they are not always very happy workplaces.
You can read more about Delete Blood Cancer and the amazing work they do here. I highly urge you to check it out and to register as a donor today. You could save someone’s life.
10 years ago today I had my first paying customer in Woohoo inc. I have now spent 10 years making millions of people in 30 countries happy at work.
I have never before in my life done the same thing for 10 years running and I can honestly say that this is the most fun and the most fulfilling thing I have ever done.
I am incredibly thankful to way too many people to mention here but I am fully aware that this journey would have been completely impossible without my great friends, playmates, partners and clients around the world to help me, inspire me and challenge me.
Here’s to the next 10 years and to our vision:
A world where happiness at work is the rule and not the exception.
Who’s with me? :)
And here’s a little gallery to celebrate the last 10 years.
This weekend I was in Sofia, Bulgaria to speak at an event about happiness at work arranged by the Bulgarian foundation Credo Bonum.
The event had two speakers, Nic Marks and myself, and we kicked ass if I do say so myself.
Nic is a researcher with a long background in happiness research and gave an excellent overview of how to define and measure happiness at work. I could then offer some specific ideas of how to create happy workplaces.
The event was a massive hit and turnout was huge with a large group of people having to stand in the back.
I also did a number of TV interviews as well as a joint appearance with Nic on the late night show Night Birds which has to stand as the most fun I’ve ever had on TV. We were on for 45 minutes and not only was there a live band to play happy music, we also got to do live improv comedy with two actors. The show will air at some later date.
I also did a an interview for a magazine – you can read it here.
A massive thank you to Credo Bonum for giving me this opportunity to speak in Bulgaria, to Simeon and Nikolet for being such great hosts and to everyone who came to the event.
Also, Bulgaria makes it 39 countries I’ve spoken in. Seems like my gig in Chile in June will make it 40!
If you gotta quit (and sometimes you gotta) you might as well do it with style.
I recently wrote about New York based company Next Jump and the world-leading things they’ve done to create a very happy workplace.
Here’s a fantastic speech from their founder and CEO Charlie Kim where he talks about the principles behind Next Jump:
Watching it, I was constantly entertained, enlightened and inspired. Two of my favorite points are Kim’s assertion that corporate values are meaningless (or possibly even harmful) and his passionate advice to get comfortable with failure. It’s great, great stuff.
It’s an hour long and I highly recommend watching the whole thing.
I recently spoke about happiness at work in New York and after the event, one attendee sent me this email:
Thanks for coming to speak to the group in New York last month. Glad I got the chance to finally meet you after reading your blog for so many years.
When I got back to work the next day, I told my department about your talk and showed them some of the videos on your site. My boss, inspired by the overall message of Arbejdsglaede and amused by the hand-drawn video, bought a copy of your book for everyone in our group. Here is a photo of us with our crisp new copies!
Most of us are quite new, as our company is growing fast. We’re hoping to build a happy, productive workplace and will be using your book as one of the prime resources. Hopefully, we’ll soon develop a reputation as a great place to work, in addition to being known for the word we do [matching bone marrow donors to Leukemia patients in need].
Thanks for all you do, keep up the good work.
And right back at ya, Prescott!
I recently did an interview about happiness at work in non-profits. Sadly I’ve found that while the work people do there is often very rewarding and meaningful, they are not always very happy workplaces.
You can read more about Delete Blood Cancer and the amazing work they do here. I highly urge you to check it out and to register as a donor today. You could save someone’s life.
I think I got the ultimate praise as a speaker today. I was told that after my speech, the sound technician at the venue said this:
“I’ve seen a lot of guys with a good message and a lot of guys who were great speakers. This guy had both!”
Woohoo!
I am quoted extensively in this CNN article about criticism and praise in the workplace.
The article also quotes two interesting studies:
The study, done by the University of Michigan Business School several years ago, compared team performance to the frequency of praise and criticism given within the teams.
The best-performing teams used about six times as many positive comments for every negative one. It found that the worst performing teams, on average, used three negative comments for every positive one.
American psychologist, John Gottman, has found a similar ratio for positive and negative comments from spouses leading to happier marriages.
This is a topic we work with extensively because constructive feedback (both negative and positive) is so important for creating a happy workplace. Check out some of our other articles on this below.
Two weeks ago I spoke at Boston University as part of their “European Voices” lecture series. The speech was very well received and seemed to inspire a lot of people.
They also filmed the speech and you can watch the whole thing right here:
At 9:17 Tim Sullivan, editorial director of Harvard Business Review Press, introduces me and then I go on at 11:40.
The Chief Happiness Officer Academy is our most in-depth 3-day training where we share everything we know about creating happier workplaces. Get an in-depth background in happiness at work, hear about the latest research in the field and learn how to use this in your own business.